Previously Said Done, But Actually Almost About Done Nursery

Apparently the nursery wasn't previously, actually finished because it hadn't been properly "accessorized" (the nursery is still missing 1 minor detail, in addition to Ahnika, and that is the rocking chair seat cushion to be re-finished, but who knows how long it will actually take Jaci to do that, so on with the show).......

Our first picture will profoundly illustrate a very important idea to remember, Jaci has officially ended her reign as a princess and is passing her tiara down to Ahnika (Jaci will now take up the role of Queen of Hessville, where her primary responsibilities will be to ensure that Ahnika is not raised a complete spoiled brat, that she eats her green vegetables - even if she won't - and to keep the King happy).

The letters below were hand painted by Jaci (the letters that spell out the name, not the sign above that says princess)......


The chair below is the one that is currently under reconstruction (seat cushion). Now, it should also be pointed out that this is not just any old rocking chair. This is an antique rocking chair that has seen many, many, many Cross (Jaci's mom's maiden name is Cross) butts and rocked many a babies (the chair has been in Jaci's family for quite sometime and was Jaci's grandmothers who had 13 kids, which is why it doesn't look like a modern day, comfortable Lay-Z-Boy that I would have bought and put in the room).

To the left of the crib is the matching clothes hamper that Jaci made me purchase for her (off ebay) at gun point (she had the crazy look in her good eye as well, so I thought it was best for me to buy the hamper for $30 instead of the plain white one at Wal-Mart for $15). Men, you have to pick your battles!

Now, the picture below gets some special explanation because I am very proud of it. Instead of purchasing a changing table for well over $100 (that may or may not even be used very often), Jaci and I decided to make our own. So for $17, I bought some wood from Lowes and made my own changing table top and screwed in onto the top of a white wicker dresser that we planned on using in the nursery (I also painted it purple for those of you who are not color blind). I think it looks pretty darn good!

And that's all I got for now.....

It's My Blog and I Can Post Whatever I Want To!

Actually, for the first time in my lifetime, I have actual pictures of myself playing baseball. When Jaci and I were in Las Vegas over last Memorial Day Weekend, a lot of my fellow teamates were playing in a baseball tournament there. Based on when Jaci and I were down there, I was able to play in 1 game and got the chance to pitch in the game (we got killed, but it was actually my first time pitching in almost 10 years). Anyways, the pictures below are sequenced and I think PRETTY FREAKING COOL (although they would be a lot better if I could lie and say that I hit a grandslam homerun at the at bat shown below, but as you can see in the picture, I swung and missed the ball (give me a break, it was also my first couple of at bats in almost 10 years too).

Ready for Occupancy

So after finishing all of the painting and molding in the nursery, we decided to paint Jaci's old day bed (which we are leaving in the nursery) white to match the rest of the furniture (we had a white whicker dresser that used to be in the famous "pink" room of the old house in Pacific). The pictures below show the current status of the nursery. With the exception of not having a changing table yet (haven't decided if we are going to buy one, build one or even really need one yet), everything is ready to go!

Jaci's Belly Buldge After 32 Weeks (Feb 12th)

For the savy folks out there, you'll realize from the date above that this picture is actually at 31 weeks and 5 days, but that it close enough to 32 weeks for me.

Before we unveil the latest tummy picture, lets have some interesting facts about Ahnika:

• Weighs 3.75 pounds (exactly, not 3.8 pounds, 3.75 pounds)
• But only about 16.7 inches long (apparently they know the exact weight of the baby, but not length?)
• Ahnika will gain around 1/2 of her total weight over the next 7 weeks (for those of you who are not rocket scientists out there, or learned mathematics in a US public school, that means Ahnika will be around 8 pounds when she is born)
• SIDE STORY ABOUT PREVIOUS COMMENT - Jaci and I were eating at CiCi's Pizza last week and the total bill was $11.66. I gave the two highschool girls a $5 gift certificate and told them to put the rest on my credit card. The one girl turned to the other and asked her how much then do I charge the credit card and she didn't know. After conferring, they decided to use a calculator. Jaci and I tried to tell them the final amount would be $6.66, however in the end I was charged $6. God bless America and our future!
• Ahnika now has fingernails, toenails and real hair.

So how is Jaci's belly looking, see for yourself below (previously I thought that Jaci's belly was big, but after seeing some of the woman in Child Birth Class who are close to their delivery dates, its actually still pretty small). Jaci should be gaining about a pound a week from here to the end.....

Is that not the most beautiful, big belly that you have ever seen? If you look really closely, you can see that Jaci's belly button is starting to pop out! That might not be that beautiful, kind of weird (I never knew an "inny" could turn into an "outie" without the use of a plastic surgeon). Although it makes it a lot easier to pick out your belly button lint!